It has been pretty widely posted that Jitoboh OV has been canceled. It now appears Tre Mitchell has also canceled and will be at UConn First Night on an UV starting Friday.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread (October 2018)
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It has been pretty widely posted that Jitoboh OV has been canceled. It now appears Tre Mitchell has also canceled and will be at UConn First Night on an UV starting Friday.
If we're being honest, that raking is about where I would put us at this point. I think the fact that some posters are offended by the perception of Illini fans having unrealistic expectations, or being ranked as the 6th best B1G job, only strengthens the point the quoted coach was trying to make. This board has gotten a little heated over the past couple weeks. We just might be a little crazy...
It is really hard for me to see how expecting more from our team than we have seen in the last 10 years is unrealistic. Just wanting to be relevant and make the tourney most years seems reasonable to me.
Now, it's not a 1 to 1 comparison, but there's an argument something similar happened this year wrt Georgi/Higgs/Adonis. That trio is already 'better' than the two you mentioned sure, but by all accounts, we weren't pursuing any of them before we wiffed on guys like Conditt/Castleton/names im sure im forgetting (the other big from Giorgi's school). Your last sentence still rang true this year. And I get its still early in his tenure to be making major in roads with guys, but there's a reason why the early signing period exists, and it's hardly for the players.
I think whats tricky with trusting BU's recruiting is mainly the lack of a track record. Sure he's been an assistant at a high level for a while, but he's been a P5 head coach for 2ish years. Combine his lack of history successfully getting high recruits with his recent misses (as in, misses since he joined UI), you'd be foolish to not at the very least, wonder if something is wrong.
As for BU the coach, I'm not sure it was just because Groce wasn't trotting up and down the half court anymore, but last years team was way more entertaining to watch. I'll side with BU's schemes on that one. Obviously losing sucks, but when that offense was on, I doubt there were more than a couple schools in the nation that could shut us down. Obviously we need that to be the more consistent occurrence, but the plays and concepts came out multiple times last year. With Groce, you'd hope a guy could either a) score a contested shot, or b) break down a defense to get another guy an open look AND find said guy.
We're not in a position to cool on bigs. Why wouldn't we push on Jitobah?
Historically, Illinois is a Top 15 program. I'm not sure why its unrealistic to expect the program to perform in line with that?
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Great breakdown. It will be interesting to see Higgs and Kane and how they progress and if they will end up sticking around. I will be concerned when kids that visit multiple times, watch the team practice under the current coaching staff, commit then transfer out. Right now its just a roll of the dice if they will be a good fit or not. Not ideal but its reality. There may be lots of bigs in this class(mostly committed elsewhere)and next year but looking at the bigs # of p5 offers compared to similar ranked CG for example is a huge difference. Lots of schools pulling for these PFs and Cs. Competition is tough. We will get ours eventually.
Deleted member 746094
D
Guest
I get all the statistics about UofI’s history as a program and where we rank over the past 20, 30, whatever years...
Unfortunately, these kids don’t care. UofI hasn't been on the national radar since before middle school for these kids. Too many people on this board lack the perspective that being a Top 15 program “historically” means nothing present day. I am not a statistics guy. However, since 2005 we have finished in the AP final Top 25 poll just twice. Seven other B10 teams have finished Top 25 more than we have in that time period and Iowa has twice. We haven’t even been in the Top 5 of our own conference.
I think this is where the comment “unrealistic expectations” is valid. This program fell apart over 12+ years. Should it take that long to rebuild? Let’s hope not! But, to return back to Top 15 in a year or two is very unrealistic IMO and a lot of others not bonging orange kook aid as well.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Maybe because the writing was on the wall? Pure speculation, but if we're not a primary contender (as judged by staff, who ostensibly should know), it's time to pull the plug. Especially, for a plan B/C guy and in light of limited OVs.
Other than MSU that has really elevated its program due to Izzo and Indiana that still has a little more luster/tradition (although fading) we should not be on average worse than other programs. Just because we let the program slip the last decade, it does not mean that this is the place that we should continue to occupy moving forward. Why? Before the slip, we were actually in better average shape for 7 years (1999-2006), proof that is definitely attainable. You can only go down but not up?
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I will certainly try
In the first post I talk about recruiting strategy in the context of what other posters have criticized, specifically targeting specific range of players, the OVs we had scheduled in the fall with highly ranked stars, who are our first priorities, geographic coverage, etc. I really do not think that that there is anything wrong with our recruiting strategy. Even the problem with OVs and Spring recruiting, it is not a matter of intended strategy, it is the result of not being able to close in the Fall.
The second post was in response to question/discussion on what we are doing/not doing in the context of "closing" the deal, on OVs and otherwise after recruits show interest. I have no idea, because I am obviously not part of the conversations/interactions. If it is something as far as tactics (conversations, presentations, things that we stress, things that we do not emphasize) past the initial point of creating interest, that is easier to fix. If it is something that has to do with personality/bonding/relationship with BU during the visit and interactions once recruits show interest, that would be more difficult to fix although even some aspects of personality can change. Which one it is would be impossible to know.
Thanks! Basically in line with what I was thinking you meant.
sacraig
- The desert
Maybe you just joined the conversation, but this has nothing to do with whether the kids care. This was about whether fan expectations for our program and coach are unreasonable, as per the previously posted article.
Yes, you are correct and I don't want to beat a dead horse and I am not picking on you but I have read these posts and yet when someone asked where they got the information, to cite a source, I didn't see anyone do so. And I have done some searching and haven't seen any official announcements to the fact that they have canceled.
Could it be we have good news on Oscar and/or Shannon and so didn't want to waste an OV on bigs that we won't need? I know no real info has surfaced that either of those two are in the bag or even likely to come to U of I, but couldn't that be a reason for canceling OVs for two bigs?
skyIdub
Winged Warrior
Underwood has a relatively short track record, but it's not unprecedented for coaches to take a couple of years to ramp up recruiting and eventually find success. The guy I'm hoping he can mirror is Mark Turgeon. In his first year at Maryland, he brought in a top-20 class (though it was likely a bit weaker since Sam Cassell Jr. wound up heading to UConn), subsequently lost all but one player from that class, struggled in his second year but brought in a couple of transfers to fill in some gaps, and then convinced Melo Trimble to stay home and never looked back.
I'd prefer that Underwood ultimately produce a bit more on the court, but even if this year's class winds up being a bit rough there's still time to correct course if a guy like Adam Miller gets on board. We're not really at a make-or-break point in his tenure just yet.
sacraig
- The desert
illiniCA
- DC Area
I guess I will just say it ... I think Mitchell and Jitoboh and 5's. I not sure how Shannon committing or not committing would change anything with them
Positionless
The Illini were a top flight program all during the 1980s and then through Self, Kruger and early Weber. That is a long enough period of time that the expectations are not out of whack. That's not to say other programs shouldn't have similar expectations, but there is no arguing that when you are below such programs as Northwestern, you have certainly fallen far from where you traditionally were. After all, had 25 NCAA appearances in 32 years from 1981-2013. Average Big Ten finish for Henson's teams from 1980-81 to 1988-89 was 3rd and never lower than fourth. Kruger in four years won the Big Ten, then finished fourth twice and the one bad year where they were 11th but made the Big Ten Tourney title game. Self in three years won two titles and was runner-up. Weber's average finish was 4.5 in first 8 years, but that was where it fell off. 464-406 in Big Ten play in the last 50 years, but 376-270 from Henson through Weber. In those approximately 50 years, the team has finished top five 28 times, with six 1sts, 7 seconds, 6 thirds, 7 fourths and 2 fifths.
illiniCA
- DC Area
Can you be positionless on defense?
Yes. Especially when they blow right by you....
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